Abstract
Background: Despite positive attitudes amongst support staff towards sexuality, adults with learning disabilities report being dissatisfied with the support they receive. This research aimed to explore how support workers understood their role in supporting the sexuality of people with learning disabilities. Method: Six support workers from supported living services completed interviews and vignettes exploring their role. Data was analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. Results: Three themes emerged which were understood as suggesting that support workers’ held both complex and conflicting affective associations to their role supporting sexuality. This was interpreted as creating an ambivalence that resulted in them distancing themselves from having an active role in supporting sexuality. Conclusion: This study concluded that support workers may inadvertently express an understanding of their role that may be consistent with negative and limiting discourses about the sexuality of people with learning disabilities. This study reiterates the need for sexuality training.